Picnik CEO on Getting Bought by Google, and How It Affects Startups and Consumers

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Google’s acquisition of Seattle-based photo editing company Picnik is the deal of the year—and maybe more—for the local tech startup community. It just closed this morning, and terms aren’t being disclosed, but suffice to say Picnik’s leadership and team of 20-odd employees will make out pretty well. What’s more, the acquisition adds a bookend to the company’s storied history, from a bootstrapped startup that never needed outside venture capital to become a profitable Web traffic machine. (Eat your hearts out, VCs.)

Picnik was founded in late 2005, became profitable in late 2008, and formed key partnerships with sites like Flickr, Facebook, and MySpace, on its way to having millions of users and more than a billion photos uploaded. The startup’s revenue model is a paid subscription service that gives consumers access to premium photo-editing tools.

Jonathan Sposato, Picnik’s chief executive, spoke with me in-depth today about the deal and what it means for his company, the tech community, and the M&A market. His startup perspective on “how Google works” is particularly interesting, as is his take on the importance of the culture fit between Picnik and Mountain View, CA-based Google. (One of Sposato’s previous startups, Phatbits, was also acquired by Google in 2005, and he worked there for almost a year before joining Picnik in its early days.)

Here’s an edited transcript of our conversation:

Xconomy: So how did the Google deal come about?

Jonathan Sposato: We’ve always kept a dialogue going with various companies. We’re high-profile, and we get lots of traffic. So the big companies are always, always talking with us in some shape or form. With this particular round, there was a lot of buzz starting to build around Picnik around mid-year/summer of ‘09. As some of the conversations got more codified, it became clear that Google was going to be the most interesting and fun option for us down the road. Also, some amount of my own past at Google—that both Google and Jonathan were known quantities to each other—had a very positive impact.

X: Were there other serious suitors when it came down to crunch time?

JS: There were. [Even as of recently.]

X: And how well did you guys make out?

JS: I can’t talk about the deal considerations. This is really the best deal—the return on everyone’s time and energy and money in for the three of us (the principals) is fantastic. In terms of deal size, it’s made us all very happy. Everyone on the Picnik team, down to the line-level folks, are very, very happy. They see a very nice financial result hitting their pockets as well. That has been a very satisfying feeling.

JS: I wouldn’t put it that way. I, and everyone on the team, are very interested in giving Google a really, really great deal. The kinds of exciting things that Picnik and Google both bring to the table are going to be pretty darn amazing. I can’t think of a better synergy here. I would also say I’ve been really touched by the support of folks at Google. This is a homecoming of sorts. It’s been very heartwarming to hear from folks at Google who’ve been highly supportive. We’re really pumped.

X: So this acquisition feels different from the Phatbits acquisition?

JS: Every deal is different. This is, in every way, very different from Phatbits. That was a smaller company, it didn’t have the scale and traffic that Picnik does. The one constancy, where I could benefit with my previous experience, was that I know how Google works. They are an … Next Page »